Whilst I’m thrilled that all three of my kids are happy to do some voicing, I’m especially proud that the girls both have repeat clients that come back time and again.

Rosie has been voicing for Zapf Creation for 4 years now, with a new campaign in the works for this summer. Thankfully she’s able to stretch her range and can deliver voiceovers that sound far younger, or more mature than her years. Here’s one from the previous campaign, Zapf Creation – Babyborn Princess.

Meanwhile, Edie has once again been asked to voice for Red Funnel Ferries, and this radio campaign is currently being heard across the South West. They loved her quirky, natural read, and she loved voicing for them!

All three are available this summer. Rosie is 12, Edie is 9 and Sam is very very nearly 7. Since children’s voices change so quickly, we’re always happy to record short custom demos. Between them they’ve covered e-learning, apps, radio, tv and on-hold messaging. Please get in touch if you’d like more information.

I have to confess I’ve been a little distracted this week as I’ve been busily training up a new team member here at Glebe Barns studio. Sadly, completely useless at e-learning, commercial reads, audio editing or tea making, but already very adept at paper shredding, and on hand to provide some truly comical yipping, yapping and cartoon-ish woofing, I’d like to introduce new voiceover recruit, 9 week old Gilbert.

As it turns out, he’s also a dab hand at sleeping, so the booth continues to be as blissfully quiet as ever.

Much as I love what I do, it’s not all cosy booth, editing and voiceovers.

My biggest joy of living in this beautiful corner of Dorset is the endlessly changing scenery and wild and natural landscape. This morning was perfect for a dog walk. Swathes of buttercups as far as the eye could see, rolling green fields and more sky than I ever knew was possible.

And back in the garden, more treats. In the disused cold frame, wild poppies have taken over.

Child-like, friendly, dog roses clamber all over the arbour. Perfect for bees.

And in the warm borders, the glamorous, blowsy heads of strongly scented old fashioned English roses.

One of the unexpected benefits of voicing lots of e-learning is access to information I might never otherwise encounter. It’s a point I’ve seen many voiceover colleagues make, and at one extreme end of the scale one voiceoverist even went on to learn to fly a plane, such was his fascination with the project he’d narrated.

I find I do need to fully immerse myself in the script, because in order to tell the story, I need to understand it myself. Or crucially, sound like I do, and that perhaps is where the real skill of the voice over comes in. That, and managing to engage with the listener, even when the subject matter is a little dry.

But let’s start with cars. Oooh, I love cars. I mean, really. The smell of the leather, the purr of the engine. That lovely clunk as a door shuts properly. And I can now give you an across the range, in-depth sales pitch for premium car brand Infiniti. I’ve been voicing their sales training for the last 5 years. So you might catch me drooling over V8 engines, gasping at all those advanced safety features and sighing at their extra special interiors (they can do ALL THAT? Who knew!) But only ever virtually, since to this day I still haven’t seen or touched one.

Then there was the Christmas I spent so long narrating training videos for global drinks giant Diageo I was actually starting to dream about alcohol. I’d fall asleep thinking about brand names. I’d google niche brands for their pronunciations. I suspect I was only one script away from believing I actually was Tom Cruise. (Google it!) Cheers!

So, for my most recent e-learning client, uber-cool hair salon brand TIGI, I’ve thrown myself into the incredibly technical and surprisingly scientific world of hair colouring. Never again will I take hair dye for granted. Colourists, I salute you, and I hope I’ve done you justice. A stylish, upbeat and approachable voice over was the direction, and since this level of technical information can be very dry to listen to, I made sure I fully understood the brief, matching my voice to the clubby soundtrack and vibrant pictures.

I’ve been told I’m chosen to narrate e-learning projects because I have a very approachable, relatable voice. Warm, but not bossy, and confident enough to be believable.

If you’d like to discuss working with me on one of your projects, please email or call me.

Many thanks to Merlin Telecommunications who were kind enough to invite me to write for their blog recently. For great value phone systems follow this link to their site. My post is reproduced here.

Having spent time and money on a great new phone system, branding, a fabulous website, snazzy logo and all the things that combine to make you look great, what does your customer hear when they finally make contact?

On-hold messaging is a great opportunity for you to entertain, advise, highlight new products or changes, and sell to your clients. It’s also a simple way to make a great first impression.

The phone messages that greet your callers need to reflect your brand. Do they sound the way you want to be seen? Do they portray your values? Do they sound professional?

And this is where I come in. I’m a voiceover (think that bloke from the X-Factor, but less shouty). I spend my days tucked away in a cosy, acoustically treated booth working on everything from tv and radio commercials, to training videos and corporate presentations, radio station imaging and even Voice of God announcements for awards ceremonies.

I record a lot of telephone system messages. In fact I did a quick calculation and reckon I’ve voiced well over 20,000.

Think of these messages as mini commercials. Here’s a flavour of some of the ways you can use this time on hold.

After a long build up and a disproportionate amount of worrying about shoes and dresses (as a voiceover my preferred uniform is anything vaguely resembling pyjamas) VOX 2015 blew expectations out of the water!

The UK’s only conference dedicated to the voiceover and audio industry took place last month. A packed schedule running from 10am on the Saturday through to a rather subdued Sunday morning, saw presentations from LA voice coach Nancy Wolfson (BraintracksAudio.com), on fine and exceptionally generous form, and also flying in from LA, studio owner and renowned animation voice Marc Graue. Representing the UK, James Cridland gave us a fascinating overview of the shifting radio landscape with “The Future of Radio: Beyond the Big British Castle”, and Sontronics were well represented by James Ivey with a selection of mics to try including the one Adele used to record Skyfall.

Once again voiceovers.co.uk sponsored the evening’s awards. Amongst a selection of truly excellent UK writing, production and voiceover talent, this was the standout winner for me – from Engine7 and Taff Girdlestone (winning Best Male Voiceover), for an ad for the Samaritans. A special mention also to Langley Gerald’s winning entry for Pirate FM which played perfectly with the listener with a creative spin on the same old story.

Enormous thanks must go to Posy Brewer and Stevie Cripps for their dedication and passion to make VOX2015 the best yet.

Next in the diary, the ultimate Christmas voiceover party with VOXMAS, and sponsorship opportunities for VOX2016. Check out the website here: voxevents.co.uk and get on the mailing list now to make sure you don’t miss out next time around.

The VOX 2015 conference – the UK’s only annual event dedicated to the voice over and audio industry takes place this week.

This bumper event, with a packed schedule, awards dinner, and educational and networking opportunities, looks set to be the best yet. Personally, I’m especially excited to see US coach Nancy Wolfson in action. I’ve trained with her over the last few years but never seen her work a room, and her reputation tells me we’re in for a good time!

I’m also keen to test out the Sontronics mics, a rapidly growing British grown brand, (and local to me here in the West Country) now making waves in America.

Voice over is a funny industry to work in. We have a thriving online virtual community but we rarely see each other. The VOX 2015 conference gives us the opportunity to all get together in one place and swap notes, network, learn and of course, party!

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"You are heaven on a plate, You.
A director's dream."

- Nancy Wolfson, BraintracksAudio.com

"Easy to work with and professional to the core."

“Natalie’s voice has graced, enhanced and illuminated many of my scripts in the past. I write the words, Natalie transforms them into the audio version of the Lindisfarne Gospels. Easy to work with and professional to the core.” -Simon Rushton, Senior Copywriter at Get Carter Productions